Eye on Zoellick

Amid food riots and shaken governments IFIs scramble to develop a coherent response

Skyrocketing food prices have forced the international financial institutions (IFIs) to articulate responses to the situation. The World Bank has conjured a "New Deal for Global Food Policy" to pump agriculture-oriented loans and programs into Africa and to address emergency financing needs. The IMF has voiced concern over the likely macroeconomic shocks of the food crisis in low-income countries. But the Bretton Woods Institutions must wrestle with a legacy that helped set the stage for diminished food security in many low-income countries. Read more